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Healthy Choices

Health-care reform has taken a backseat on Capitol Hill due to
the more immediate concerns regarding our nation's security.
However, a poll conducted for American Demographics during
the weekend of September 6 reveals that an overwhelming majority of
Americans believe that decisions regarding the course and cost of
medical treatment should reside with them and their doctors â€”
not with insurance companies and other health-care providers.

According to this month's exclusive survey of 2,514 individuals,
conducted by NFO Migliara/Kaplan, a Princeton, N.J.-based
health-care market research firm, 85 percent of Americans believe
they are entitled to the best possible medical care, regardless of
cost. Interestingly, women feel strongest that their health-care
needs should be blind to price, with 88 percent agreeing that money
should be no object when it comes to health care. Significantly
fewer men (79 percent) feel that they are entitled to the best
possible health-care benefits regardless of cost.

Entitled? Yes. Receiving? No. Only 18 percent of our fellow
countrymen and women completely agree that their current medical
coverage provides them with the best possible care, regardless of
cost. Those most satisfied with their health-care services live in
the Northeast, where 22 percent of the population agrees that their
medical coverage provides them with the best care, regardless of
cost, compared with 17 percent of Americans in the South and 16
percent in the Midwest and West.

Does this mean Americans think they're entitled to a midlife
tummy tuck and facelift? Not quite. Proving that they have a
pragmatic side, 54 percent of respondents said that it is
acceptable to deny a patient coverage for cosmetic treatments that
offer no health benefits. And 4 in 10 respondents (40 percent) also
said it was acceptable for insurance companies to refuse payment of
treatments that will not â€œsignificantly improve the patient's
quality of life.â€? A similar portion of the population is
skeptical of treatments that lack proof of success. Thirty-eight
percent say it's justifiable for insurance companies and other
providers to deny coverage for experimental treatments.

Under most circumstances, men are more likely than women to tell
a doctor to put down the scalpel. In the case of experimental
treatments, for instance, 45 percent of men say that it's
acceptable for insurance companies to deny a patient coverage,
compared with just 34 percent of women. Older Americans are also
more inclined to allow insurers to turn down a claim. When it comes
to treatments that will not significantly improve the patient's
quality of life, 47 percent of Americans age 44 and older say it's
all right to deny coverage, compared with 33 percent of adults
younger than 44.

There are a couple of circumstances, though, under which
virtually all Americans agree that it is completely unacceptable to
deny a patient treatment. Ninety-seven percent of respondents say
that the cost of the treatment alone is never a valid reason to
deny a patient coverage. A vast majority of Americans also feel
that doctors and patients, not insurers, should be the ones to
decide whether or not a treatment is needed. Only 4 percent of
respondents said that it is OK to deny a prescribed treatment if
the company providing the coverage simply considered it
â€œunnecessary.â€?

â€œHealth care today is an emotional issue, made even more
so as the cost of health care continues to soar,â€? says Lorna
Walters, president of NFO Migliara/Kaplan. â€œDespite the
costs, consumers clearly believe that decisions regarding
health-care solutions should rest with themselves and their doctor
practitioners and not with an outside organization. One's health
should come first, regardless of the price tag.â€?

Americans apparently sport this belief up until the bitter end.
Seventy-six percent of respondents said that it is improper for an
insurance company to deny coverage of treatments that will
â€œnot significantly lengthen the patient's life.â€? And 66
percent of Americans disagree with the concept of placing caps on
the cost of medical coverage for patients for whom death is
â€œimminent or obviously near.â€? What is it they say about
the fat lady?

$1,400 for a Broken Leg, and Not a Dollar More!

Men are slightly more likely to agree with price caps on the
cost of medical coverage based on the ailment or condition being
treated.